Back to Dyed Cotton Top
Cotton Top – Passion
$10.00 – $40.86
100% Egyptian Cotton.
A really punchy and rich red with ever-so-slight scarlet leanings. Not cerise like in the photo. Staple length is 1 to 1.5 inches, and reportedly easy to spin.
PRODUCT of ITALY
Related products

Super Streaker Merino – Fiesta
100% 19 micron Merino wool top.
Ribbons of rich tangerine-orange, magenta and cherry-red where they blend together.
PRODUCT of ITALY

Fine Merino – Rust
100% fine 19-micron Merino wool. Beautiful and clean combed top.
Excellent rusty red-orange-brown tone.
PRODUCT of ITALY, from Dyeing House Gallery.

Merino/Silk – Storm
80% Merino wool (22-micron) / 20% Mulberry silk from Ashford of New Zealand.
Combed top/sliver. One of our streakier blends, this features stripes of beet purple-red, rose, charcoeal, black and silvery white.
PRODUCT of NEW ZEALAND
$11.00 – $44.95 $8.25 – $33.71

Cochineal, Whole
Whole dried insects.
A scale insect native to Mexico/Central America that feeds exclusively on prickly-pear cactus. Cochineal is a very common source of red food colour with a long historical use. No mordant is required although they will extend the colour range in interesting ways. Use at 3-10% WOF for medium, 10-20% WOF for strong shades. Cochineal is expensive but very generous and can easily give 8 or more successive dips from the same dyebath. Have plenty of fibre ready and waiting!
TO USE: grind finely in a coffee grinder (Cochineal is non-toxic but may stain your next pot of coffee). Soak overnight in cold water with 5% Cream of Tartar to WOF. Simmer 15 minutes, cool and strain -- we find a sieve lined with moist paper towel does the trick. Return to pot, add more water if necessary then enter the fibre and simmer for 35 to 45 minutes.
Light/washfastness: excellent